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Winners & Losers

January 27, 2009 By Barbara 3 Comments

Once upon a time there was a clear distinction between winners and losers. The winners went home with a trophy, money, movie deal, or whatever they were playing for. The losers went home dejected and empty-handed.

In sports, the winning coach gets a raise or an offer for a better job. The losing coach gets bad publicity and oftentimes replaced.

On American Idol the winner gets to make an album and tour the country. The losers make albums and tour the country. I don’t get that. But the worst infraction of the rules of winners and losers comes in the form of one young man named, Sanjaya.

Not only is this boy-man still getting face time on the morning news, but he had the “audacity” to write a memoir, as though he’s actually lived a life. What is he? Nineteen?

Sanjaya isn’t a very good singer. But he’s very good at drama. He wept often during the weeks he was on the American Idol show. When that didn’t move Simon, he started arranging his hair in crazy Mohawks and girly curls. As his lack of true talent became more and more obvious, he became more and more outrageous. Apparently, millions of ten and eleven-year-old girls were calling in to vote for him, but eventually, (thankfully), he was axed.

I find it hard to believe he had enough life story or even words to fill a book. Perhaps it’s a picture book memoir, or one of those flip books where the character inside looks as though they are changing and moving, but really aren’t.

Sanjaya–still strange but with a new hairdo, was making the news circuit this morning to publicize this book of his and inform everyone that he is working on an album.

Why am I still surprised when publishers print this drivel?

 They’ve snatched up so many memoirs in the past couple of years that later turned out to be complete fabrications. At least this time they should know what’s true and what’s not. Millions of viewers watched Sanjaya for weeks on end make a fool of himself. Besides, the litmus test for a true memoir is if Oprah does not promote it for her booklist. Apparently, she passed on this one. She’s probably still engrossed in that memoir of the girl who survived a Nazi prisoner camp by hiding in the woods and living with wolves. I can see where she might be fooled. After all, Tarzan was raised by wolves.

Publishers usually want to know an author has a platform and an audience before taking on a project. Sanjaya seems to have a platform. Just the fact that he was a contestant on American Idol gets him booked on Good Morning America. But does he have an audience anymore? Those ten and eleven-year-old girls are now twelve or thirteen. Will this skinny, off-key man-child still hold the same appeal as he did two years ago? Or have they crushed on a manlier type like Robert Pattinson (star of the vampire movie Twilight)?

I don’t know about you, but I will be watching the New York Times best seller list with bated breath. 

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The Opposite of Wisdom

January 23, 2009 By Barbara 3 Comments

There is so little worry these days about offending the God of this Universe. Even many of those who profess to believe in a deity, refuse to let the notion influence their daily lives. The “fear of the Lord,” (knowledge that he exists, is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful, could smash us all like insects if He weren’t so merciful), has been replaced with a generic belief in “something bigger than ourselves,” but apparently not big enough to matter much, or just “God is love, spread it around,” like sixties beatnik rhetoric.

The Bible states in Psalms 14:1, The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

In Great Britain there are some very foolish people.  A group of atheists decided to emblazon their message of hopelessness on the sides of buses. They set up a pledgebank for donations and apparently got enough unbelievers to chip in for messages on up to 800 buses.

Their superior slogan is, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Even given that Great Britain has nearly eradicated all religious tendencies from it’s population, you would think there would still be plenty of Christians around to be offended by such a campaign. Only 200 voiced complaints. 

The organization plans to spread their message around the world. They’ve already put the slogan, “The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that we do not need him,” on buses in Italy and Spain.

The atheists in our country were busy before the inauguration, trying to make sure no one mentioned God or prayed to a higher power during the ceremony. Thankfully, their petitions were thrown out of court this time. But what about next time? What about when the buses come here? Will anyone notice, or care enough to lodge a complaint? Will children grow up reading on billboards that God is just an imaginary character like that jolly elf that delivers presents on Christmas day?

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

No Fear has been a brand name slogan for the last few years. Extreme sports fanatics wear t-shirts, caps, etc, promoting the notion that they aren’t afraid of anything. I say they don’t use much wisdom or common sense. They break bones, pull muscles, sometimes get killed, all for the thrill of the ride.

It’s one thing to be fearless in your extracurricular activities, whether it’s mountain climbing, bungee jumping, or motocross, but lacking fear of God is not just death-defying—it’s damning, for eternity.

Whether you believe or not doesn’t make God less than what he is—AWESOME & HOLY  

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